I wonder if the other members would find it beneficial to have a "topic" for senior pets and the accompanying issues/medical concerns/treatments that others have faced/overcome?

I am personally dealing with two senior dogs right now and treatments for arthritis, hypothyroidism, and incontinence. "Searching" the entire site brings many answers but from puppyhood and younger dogs which are not relevant to my case.

jUST ASKIN...

Dog Dancer

December 10th, 2010, 01:32 PM

I'd be on board for that one, obviously!! Good idea.

Chris21711

December 10th, 2010, 07:04 PM

I think that's a good idea :thumbs up

Marty11

December 10th, 2010, 10:01 PM

Great idea :thumbs up I have recently dealt with a senior :rip: It's a blessing to see those years. :)

the gang

December 10th, 2010, 10:29 PM

i would love to hear more ,i too have 2 sr. pins

Love4himies

December 11th, 2010, 07:26 AM

That is a great idea. :thumbs up

14+kitties

December 11th, 2010, 09:39 AM

Are you talking a topic or it's own forum/sub forum? Maybe under pet health? That would be beneficial to a lot of people. Including me. I have two senior dogs too that are not doing well. Would love to have a special spot to read/learn.
Great idea Di! :highfive:

diandpat

December 11th, 2010, 09:51 AM

I was thinking a sub-forum in the Pet Health. There is a cat health sub-forum and I thought perhaps a Seniors sub-forum might help get all the information in the same place. :shrug:

I also find it helpful hearing what others are doing because these senior furkids present their own challenges. I:cloud9:

Goldenbear

December 11th, 2010, 11:43 AM

I was thinking a sub-forum in the Pet Health. There is a cat health sub-forum and I thought perhaps a Seniors sub-forum might help get all the information in the same place. :shrug:

I also find it helpful hearing what others are doing because these senior furkids present their own challenges. I:cloud9:

Count us in :thumbs up
Our Peaches is starting to feel the effects of possible spinal/nerve pinching in her rear hips.....
Especially with the snow as of late she is very unstable/slips & has trouble getting her footing back to her rear legs:(
Our Rusty presents different challenges with his rear hip & joint /muscles stemming from when he had a golf ball size tumor removed as a puppy:yuck:
1)Incontinence in older dogs may be directly related to the dogs losing sensation in the muscle control of bladder retention.
2)Spinal nerve pinches affect the sensation of solids passing through the digestive system.

Short term veterinary medical solutions are 1 or 2 steroidal type injections maximum during one year....but the positive effects are not permanent...
I hope some of this information is of help:pawprint:

14+kitties

December 11th, 2010, 12:01 PM

I was thinking a sub-forum in the Pet Health. There is a cat health sub-forum and I thought perhaps a Seniors sub-forum might help get all the information in the same place. :shrug:

I also find it helpful hearing what others are doing because these senior furkids present their own challenges. I:cloud9:

That's what I thought you meant and that is a great idea! As far as cats having their own subforum in the pet section - yeah, interesting that dogs once more come first even on a pet site and cats are relegated to a sub forum. :rolleyes: ;) And yes, I know it was done for ease of finding info but why not give cats their own health forum separate from dogs?:D It's a small thing but IMO for someone who considers dogs and cats on the same level a tad bit irritating. Just my :2cents:.

Now would you want the senior sub forum divided between dogs and cats or all together?

rainbow

December 11th, 2010, 02:51 PM

I think this is a great idea as well. :thumbs up

I also agree with 14+kitties and think cats should have their own forum and then have a sub-forum for seniors in each one. :fingerscr

diandpat

December 11th, 2010, 03:07 PM

I also agree with 14+kitties and think cats should have their own forum and then have a sub-forum for seniors in each one. :fingerscr

In a perfect world, this would be how I had hoped we could make it. :cat::dog::dog::cat: :laughing::laughing:

Don`t know if it is too late now though after all the work they just did on the site :shrug: but this seems to be the easiest way to get all the information for both dogs and cats in their own place and then address the special needs of the seniors.

I really just feel overwhelmed right now that both my dogs seems to be aging daily and I`m trying to remember who said what when...lol

Winston

December 11th, 2010, 03:39 PM

I agree that there should be equal sections as well!!

14+ I dont agree with you here???

yeah, interesting that dogs once more come first even on a pet site and cats are relegated to a sub forum. And yes, I know it was done for ease of finding info but why not give cats their own health forum separate from dogs? It's a small thing but IMO for someone who considers dogs and cats on the same level a tad bit irritating.

Why?? because it takes work in making a forum like this. I dont beleive that anyone thinks cats are on a lower level than dogs? I dont think there is any ulterior motive here?? perhaps there is more discussion from dog owners than cats??who knows? but really it takes time to make changes and alter things to get a site where everyone is happy...I dont think Marko would have any issue with adding a sub forum?? :shrug:

I consider dogs and cats on the same level to a certain extent! their animals??

Now would you want the senior sub forum divided between dogs and cats or all together?

Why not go for broke? :thumbs up :D

A senior sub forum divided sounds like a great little project for Pets programmers. :lightbulb:

Personally, Kitty is pushing 11+ and Gryphon's getting into his senior years as well. To be able to differentiate dogs or cats through a sub forum would make sourcing information much more easier and quicker in my humble opinion. :thumbs up

TeriM

December 11th, 2010, 10:26 PM

That's what I thought you meant and that is a great idea! As far as cats having their own subforum in the pet section - yeah, interesting that dogs once more come first even on a pet site and cats are relegated to a sub forum. :rolleyes: ;) And yes, I know it was done for ease of finding info but why not give cats their own health forum separate from dogs?:D It's a small thing but IMO for someone who considers dogs and cats on the same level a tad bit irritating. Just my :2cents:.

I actually remember when the cat health forum was created. Originally all "pet health" was together but I think some of the cat stuff was getting buried as there was more dog threads. It was probably a sub-forum because the original threads would have been in the "pet health" and would be a huge effort to relocate them to a totally new area. Marko then created the cat sub-forum to make it easier for people looking for the cat stuff.

I like the idea of a senior pets section :thumbs up.

14+kitties

December 11th, 2010, 11:06 PM

I actually remember when the cat health forum was created. Originally all "pet health" was together but I think some of the cat stuff was getting buried as there was more dog threads. It was probably a sub-forum because the original threads would have been in the "pet health" and would be a huge effort to relocate them to a totally new area. Marko then created the cat sub-forum to make it easier for people looking for the cat stuff.

I like the idea of a senior pets section :thumbs up.

I think I may have joined around the time that was going on or was here for a while when it was being done. I do realize why things were done the way they were. Not arguing at all about it. Just making an observation. :shrug: I also realize the difficulties in working with a certain amount of size as far as forums go. Helps having a comp guy for a son in law. ;) I don't expect things to change.
The senior pet section would be a big help right now for a lot of us.

diandpat

December 11th, 2010, 11:21 PM

Well, I have PMed Marko so hopefully he will chime in soon. I think separate forums with subforums would be wonderful as there is so much info out there and so many knowledgeable people here. Most importantly, a lot of the info is not suitable to both species...eg/Metacam!!!!

We can wait and see.

rainbow

December 11th, 2010, 11:24 PM

I'm thinking that Marko must have gone away for a few days or else he is busy xmas shopping otherwise he would have answered by now. :)

marko

December 12th, 2010, 11:30 AM

I just received a PM about this. In general, please just feel free to pM me at anytime if you'd like my input. I am on the board often, but I can't read all the threads. I am often doing maintenance stuff...

In terms of cats taking a back seat to dogs.....this suggests some type of favoritism on my and dave's part and this is false. When the board started 10 years ago, it was much smaller....so, many of our forums had both dogs and cats. As the forum got larger and the ratio of cat owners increased (still smaller than dogs by a fair margin) it made sense to separate the health forum in particular. Given that the ratio of dog questions is greater than cat questions a subforum made more sense. It's simply a question of the frequency of certain questions by members. To suggest our intent simply by looking at the forums will never reveal it, just ask us :goodvibes:

(As an admin, my pet peeve is empty/slow forums, so forums are only created as needed). Also Categorizing a forum takes a good amount of thought to avoid overlapping categories so both members and guests can find what they are looking for easily). We simply cannot create a forum/subforum for every topic as finding the info in our forum would turn people off because of clutter.

But I have no issue at all, at this time to give cats their own health forum. I do believe it's time....I can make this happen shortly actually.

Now in terms of a senior DOG SUBFORUM or a senior CAT SUBFORUM, in principle I have no issue with that as well and I'll chat about it with dave. For me it's also about clutter though. Example - Should we also subdivide the dog forum into puppy/kitten questions if we are also doing senior questions? what about other 'sub' issues? Maybe it's just me but i find too many forums and subforums create a cluttered looking board.

anyway just putting that out there. Let's continue this thread for a bit so we can get even more input.

Thx! Marko

rainbow

December 12th, 2010, 03:14 PM

Now in terms of a senior DOG SUBFORUM or a senior CAT SUBFORUM, in principle I have no issue with that as well and I'll chat about it with dave. For me it's also about clutter though. Example - Should we also subdivide the dog forum into puppy/kitten questions if we are also doing senior questions? what about other 'sub' issues? Maybe it's just me but i find too many forums and subforums create a cluttered looking board.

anyway just putting that out there. Let's continue this thread for a bit so we can get even more input.

Thx! Marko

Personally, I don't think the board looks cluttered right now with the subforums. :2cents:

And, now that you mention it, YES, I think we should have separate forums for dogs and cats each with their own "seniors" subforum AND "puppy"/"kitten" subforum. :thumbs up

14+kitties

December 12th, 2010, 06:26 PM

And yes, I know it was done for ease of finding info but why not give cats their own health forum separate from dogs?:D

Man, I wish people would stop thinking they know what I'm thinking. :rolleyes: I'm done.

rainbow

December 12th, 2010, 07:11 PM

Man, I wish people would stop thinking they know what I'm thinking. :rolleyes: I'm done.

14+, I hope you don't mean that you're "done" with the forum ......you're knowledge is much too valuable to us all. :grouphug:

And, actually, I don't understand what you mean by your above statement as I don't see where anyone mentioned that they thought they knew what you're thinking. :confused:

So, if you think you know what other people are thinking what you're thinking then please pm me cuz I'm totally confused now. :o

Rgeurts

December 12th, 2010, 07:42 PM

I think a senior sub forum for both cats and dogs is an excellent idea! Just my :2cents:

Winston

December 12th, 2010, 08:40 PM

Awesome Marko! that will help peoplpe find things specifically dog vs cat & age etc! I dont think it will be cluttered either!! :thumbs up

Love4himies

December 13th, 2010, 08:11 AM

I have been on forums where Cat and Dog are kept totally separate and sub forums under each category such as in the way we have "Discussion Groups" separate from "Photograhy" and "News Articles" and then under each there is "Health", "Nutrition", "Behaviour", etc.

I have to agree with 14+ kitties, the way this forum is set up, it does appear that cats take a back seat to dogs :shrug:. Dogs get the big heading, cats get the little subforum. Sorry, but that's how it appears to me.

marko

December 13th, 2010, 09:13 AM

Hi members,

Cats will get their own health forum this week, the current subforum will turn into its own forum.

It's also looking like we will try 2 subforums for senior cats and dogs.

Thx!
Marko

mikischo

December 13th, 2010, 01:17 PM

I personally feel that a senior forum for cats and/or dogs would be confusing for me, both in terms of where to look and where to post. Sure there are diseases (arthritis, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, kidney failure, liver diseases, heart problems, cancer, bladder issues, even incontinence to name a few) that are more common in senior animals but they can also occur in younger ones. When I am looking up information on a particular disease or treatment on this site I use the search engine (which I find to be very good). I don't even think about whether this pet is 15 years old or that pet is 5 years old for example. I just want to learn what to do about the particular issue he/she is having. Maybe I'm "all wet" and am the only person who feels that a senior pet subforum would be somewhat redundant and potentially confusing.

rainbow

December 13th, 2010, 02:26 PM

I have to agree with 14+ kitties, the way this forum is set up, it does appear that cats take a back seat to dogs :shrug:. Dogs get the big heading, cats get the little subforum. Sorry, but that's how it appears to me.

I guess the Pet Health forum may appear like that but I really don't think it's intentional. Besides, it balances out the General Forum for Cats and Dogs that puts cats first. :D

Hi members,

Cats will get their own health forum this week, the current subforum will turn into its own forum.

It's also looking like we will try 2 subforums for senior cats and dogs.

Thx!
Marko

Thanks Marko. :thumbs up

diandpat

December 13th, 2010, 02:38 PM

Hi members,

Cats will get their own health forum this week, the current subforum will turn into its own forum.

It's also looking like we will try 2 subforums for senior cats and dogs.

Thx!
Marko

Thanks Marko...hope it ends up being helpful for members and lurkers!

marko

December 13th, 2010, 02:46 PM

I personally feel that a senior forum for cats and/or dogs would be confusing for me, both in terms of where to look and where to post. Sure there are diseases (arthritis, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, kidney failure, liver diseases, heart problems, cancer, bladder issues, even incontinence to name a few) that are more common in senior animals but they can also occur in younger ones. When I am looking up information on a particular disease or treatment on this site I use the search engine (which I find to be very good). I don't even think about whether this pet is 15 years old or that pet is 5 years old for example. I just want to learn what to do about the particular issue he/she is having. Maybe I'm "all wet" and am the only person who feels that a senior pet subforum would be somewhat redundant and potentially confusing.

I appreciate and have indeed considered this very point of view. I think its use is more for new people though versus regular members, as regular members will use the search engine. The search engine will find what you want so where it's actually located (forum versus subforum) may not make any difference. For new people, they will see a dedicated subforum and possible look there to see similar issues or information related to their breed or similar aged pet. I did think of 1 potential pitfall but I just got distracted by Zeus (I'm dogsitting) and now I forgot....oh OK,
here's the question.

what age is a senior? and won't this vary by breed?

thx! - Marko

rainbow

December 13th, 2010, 02:53 PM

what age is a senior? and won't this vary by breed?

thx! - Marko

Yes, it would vary by breed as small breeds live longer than large breeds.

rainbow

December 13th, 2010, 03:01 PM

Here's some info about when a dog is a senior ....

http://www.familyvet.com/seniordog.htm

marko

December 14th, 2010, 10:29 AM

Please note some off topic posts on 'cats versus dogs' were given their own thread here. http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=74049

Let's keep this thread on topic please. Thx - Marko

marko

December 28th, 2010, 11:04 AM

Sorry for the delay on this members. Dave has been away for a few weeks and we haven't had a chance to chat about this yet.

Thx - marko

marko

January 5th, 2011, 11:02 AM

Hi members,

We've decided to give this a test try - thanks so much for the suggestions :goodvibes:

By the end of this week FOUR new subforums will appear under the cat health forum or the dog health forum.
- senior cats
- senior dogs
- puppies
- kittens

Thanks for your patience - Marko

marko

January 8th, 2011, 01:51 PM

The subforums mentioned in the post above are all LIVE.

Effective immediately, please post all kitten, senior cat, puppy and senior dog questions in their respective subforums under either the cat health forum or the dog health forum.

Thanks again for the suggestion and for your patience in making this live.

Thx!

Marko

rainbow

January 8th, 2011, 03:00 PM

Thanks Marko .....and pass our thanks along to Dave as well. :thumbs up

diandpat

January 8th, 2011, 03:08 PM

Thanks so much guys. I am sure it was quite a bit of work. Hope people will find the subforums useful!

mhikl

January 8th, 2011, 05:27 PM

I tried to read each post to this thread carefully but I still might be repeating a point already presented.

I agree it would make things a bit easier to find information specific to one's pets by dividing up the information between cats and dogs into sub-forums. However, I will miss reading many fine posts from cat caregivers as it is less likely I will find enough time to carefully traverse the forums specific to cats. I have learned quite a bit about cat nature in the short time I have belonged to this forum though I have spent many hours traversing its treads. But one has only so much time to devote to their pet's health.

A second point is that there are possible topics that apply to both cats and dogs (and humans, actually) that could be missed if it is posted to only one of the sub forums.

For example, out of misguided love, I put my previous pet through misery no creature should have to endured, regardless the good intentions. Should I write this up, (there is a lesson to be share) it would be posted under a dog sub-forum but I believe it would be equally pertinent to many caring cat caregivers. (I really don't like to be called an owner. I own a car but an animal is its own being and I am but another being who has taken on the duty of caring for its health, safety and happiness.)

The third point I tepidly make is the element of politics issues, often born out of resentments, that was introduced to the discussion. It was distracting to the original intent of the thread and at times sidetracked the originator’s thesis. The idea of a sub-forum for senior dogs is an idea worthy of discussion and could have been made without any distracting resentment issues.

Relinquishing resentment lightens the mood of any discussion allowing harmony and trust to prevail. Although we can always strive for compromise, clarity, without resentments being raised, improves the chances of success and a more positive agreement in any situation. In short, working together frees us from anger and resentment thus helping support the universal family of all creatures. And isn’t that what progress is about?

Namaste,
mhikl

marko

January 9th, 2011, 09:53 AM

thanks for the thanks :)

mhikl - I like the way you think mhikl and as Admin I always try to encourage polite discussion.... But that's behind us now with regard to this thread so imo, let's just continue forward not backward :goodvibes:

As always new subforums are tests - but I do think these 4 subforums will work out.

In terms of missing new threads because they are posted in a subforum instead of the main forum and there's limited amount of time... I can only offer 1 suggestion.... Instead of going just to ONE forum (ie dog or cat health). Just click the Today's Posts link in the brown navbar Exact URL is http://www.pets.ca/forum/search.php?do=getdaily

That way you can see ALL of the new posts for that day INCLUDING every post in any subforum.